Earring support for hearing aid tubes



y 1950 c. H. STARKEY EARRING SUPPORT FOR HEARING AID TUBES 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 16,. 1947 FIG. 4.

INVENTOR. CHARLES H. STARKEY ATTORNEY May 2, 1950 c. H. STARKEY2,506,116

EARRING SUPPORT FOR HEARING AID TUBES Filed Jan. 16, 91.947 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. CHARLES H. STARKEY ATTORNEY Patented May 2,1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EARRING SUPPORT FOR HEARING AID TUBESMy invention relates to a Hear-Ring aid unit designed to provide aninconspicuous hearing unit for people hard of hearing and who normallywear some kind of hearing aid.

A feature resides in providing an ear unit portion which is formed bytaking an impression of an individuals ear cavity, then molding the earportion of the unit as small and inconspicuous as possible, with a,hollow passageway extending through the same. The ear portion isdesigned to be secured to the lobe of the ear by a screw or spring clampmeans which holds the ear portion within the cavity of the ear in a veryinconspicuous manner.

It is also a feature to provide an ear member for my hearing aid which,when worn by a lady, is designed with an earring of sufiicient size tovirtually cover the exposed portion of the ear member, thus concealingthe ear member of the unit behind the earring.

A further feature of primary importance in my hearing aid unit residesin attaching a hollow flexible tube leading from the member which ispositioned within the cavity of the ear, having a receiving head formedon the free end of the flexible tube of the member and is positioned orconcealed under the ladys hair. This receiver unit positioned under thehair is concealed and is in such a position that the cord leading to thebattery may extend down the back of the neck of the wearer to thebattery unit. Thus I provide a hearing aid unit for women which is socompletely concealed that all that is visible to the eye is a decorativeearring.

The decorative earring plates may be of different styles and they areremovable, thus permitting the wearer to select a style to match otherjewelry of the wearer if desired. This makes my hearing aid unit verydesirable for women who heretofore were unable to conceal the hearingaid and provides an attractive ear ornament, the style of which may bechanged from time to time.

The end of the flexible tube which extends under the hair, removablysupports the receiver.

It is of primary importance to provide a memher which is "tailor made,"so to speak, being molded to the exact cavity of the ear of the wearerwhich permits the reduction of the size of the ear member and makes iteasier to conceal the same. This feature with the means of clamping thissmall ear member in the cavity of the ear is also important because itprevents any danger of the ear member falling away from the ear. Aspring clamp or screw clamp is designed to hold the ear member firmly inplace within the cavity v of the ear, and this also increases theefiiciency of my hearing aid unit.

Thus my hearing aid unit may be in the simple form which includes themember projecting into the ear and held firmly in place to increase theeficiency thereof, or the unit may include the ear member with the clampfor holding the same in place together with the flexible tube on thefree end of which is provided means for the receiver. This last type ismore adapted for women where the receiver unit may be concealed underthe wearer's hair. In the present old forms of hearing aids, thereceiver is retained at the car i cavity and as a result the ear pieceis bulky and conspicuous. In my unit for women the receiver is locatedaway from the ear and under the wearers hair and thus the total size ofthe unit at the ear is materially reduced, making the unit invisible tothe casual observer.

These and other features of my invention will be fully and clearlydefined throughout the specification and claims.

In the drawings forming part of the specification:

Figure 1 illustrates my hearing aid unit worn by a lady to show themanner in which the entire unit is practically concealed.

Figure 2 illustrates my unit with the ear portion removed and showing aflexible hollow tube leading to the button to which the receiver isattached.

Figure 3 is a side view of my hearing aid unit with the flexible tubeextending upward therefrom.

Figure 4 is a perspective of my hearing aid unit looking toward theinner side of the earring clamp and showing the ear unit from theinside.

Figure 5 is a cross section of a persons ear showing the ear member ofmy unit projecting into the cavity or" the ear, illustrating the earringwhich conceals the ear member from view and also showing the clamp forsecuring the ear member firmly within the ear.

Figure 6 is a View looking at the outside of a persons ear, showing themanner in which the earring virtually conceals the member of the unitwhich is held in the ear by the clamp.

Figure '7 illustrates the ear member held positioned within the earwhich is shown in dotted outline.

Figure 8 is a side view of the ear member removed from the ear andshowing a screw clamp for attaching the ear member to the ear to hold itfirmly in place.

My hearing aid unit A is illustrated in perspective in Figure 2, showingthe ear portion Ill connected to a decorative earring B which is formedwith a spring clamp on the back of the same. The ear member H3 isusually tailor made to fit the ear of the wearer. This is accomplishedby taking an impression of the persons ear and then molding the earmember 10 in conformity to the mold. The ear member J may also be formedof transparent plastic material or it may be flesh colored to make itless conspicuous.

It will be obvious that the ear member i0 is extremely small and isattached to fit into the ear cavity 52 shown in Figure 5. Themember I0is formed with a passageway l3 extending through the same and which isconnected to the hollow flexible tube 14. The tube [A may be of anydesired length and usually is notvery long as it is only necessary torun this tube to a position beneath the hair E5 of the wearer asillustrated in Figure l. The outerend of the tube It connects to theplastic button It which is formed with a central recess ll. The recessl! is adapted to receive a metal ring it which may be molded into. theplastic, button l6 when it is made. The hollow tube l l connects withthe chamber if! and this provides a passageway from the chamber I'lthroughthe tube M and directly to the passageway l 3 of'the ear memberit. Thus sound may travel fromthe button It through the tube It andthrough the passageway 13 into the inner cavity of the ear 0. v

The button it is adapted to support a hearing aid receiver (notillustrated in the drawings) which receivermay be of, anysuitable typeand which is concealed beneath the hair l5 of the wearer.

With my unit A a lady may wear a hearing aid having virtuallytheappearance of an ordinary earring and thus the fact that she iswearing a hearing aid will go practicallywithout notice; The electriccord running irom'the receiver in this unit may extend down the back ofthe neck of the wearer, being hidden by the hair and thus it is almostentirely concealed from sight. 7

It is of primary importance to provide a small hearing member land-thatthis member be held firmly within the ear cavity I2. To hold the earmember I0 within the ear cavity l2 in a mannerso that it will not slipout of the ear or come loose therein, I provide the clamp H whichengagesunder the lobe of the ear in a similar manner as the clamp on anearring.

By my method of forming the ear member Hi to the exact formation of thecavity of the ear of the wearer, I am able to insure the wearer of acomfortable ear member which will remain firmly in the, ear :by means ofthe clamp H. Furthermore, when the ear member i0 is molded in accordancewith my method it requires very little force to, hold the same in theear, and thus I do not require a clamp on the lobe of the ear whichwould cause discomfort orstrain to annoy the wearer/ V l It wouldappear, from Figure 1 that my hear: ing aid unit A is virtually entirelyconcealed and thus provides a very desirable form for women who requirethe aid of a hearing device. It will also be apparent from Figure 6 thatthe earring plate 16 may be large enough to entirely conceal any portionof the ear member ill. The decorative plate 19, of the earring may be inaccordance with the selection of the wearer.

In Figures '7 and 8 I have illustrated a screw type of clamp 20. The earmember 2! illustrated in Figures 7 and 8 is made of plastic and ismoldedfrom an impression of the wearers car which permits the ear member 21 tobe made very small as heretofore set forth. Ear member 2| has apassageway 22 extending through the same to direct the sound into theinner cavity of the ear. In the form 2| of the ear member the receiver23 may be attached as illustrated in Figure 7'to the lower outer end ofthe ear member 2| overlying the lobe of the ear of the wearer. In thisform the receiver 23 may appear as an earring and the cord to thebattery (not shown) may extend down back of the ear to connect withthebattery unit in any suitable manner.

It will be apparent that this last form of the ear member illustrated inFigures 7 and 8 may be ,worn by men and the wearer is assured of thefirm holding of the ear member 21 by means of the clamp 20.

Therefore it will be apparent that I provide a novel method of moldingthe ear member to the exact form of the wearers ear, which provides alightweight ear member owing to the small amount of material required toform the same. This also permits the ear member to be formed so that itis virtually-invisible when worn in the ear as heretofore set forth.Furtheiymy unit A enables a lady to wear the same virtually as anearring and with the same appearance. The clamp means set forthinimportant to hold the ear member firmly in the ear cavity whichincreases the efficiency of the ear member because it is always held inthe proper position within the ear to direct the sound 'from thereceiver to the inner cavity of the ear.

With my style of Hear-Ring mold I provide all of the advantages of theold forms of hearing aids with the added advantage of a smaller earringornament as it does not need to cover the receiver in the form of theunit A. In this form 'L. the receiver is worn behind the car under thehair.

I secure good conduction of hearing without filling the whole outer partof the ear as must be done with the conventional older form of mold. Theear mold in this case is held in-by a clamp similar to that used-inother earrings, such as i I or 28, which are adapted to engage the lobeof the ear of the wearer. This allows circulation of air and reducesperspiration as well as making the wearing of a hearing aidunnoticeable. A pair ofmatching earrings is all that is noticeable to anobserver.

The flexible tube M curves at It as it leads away from the earring-2B,which permits this curve to extend around and under the lobe of, theear and-virtually entirely conceals the tube I l from the earring B tothe button l6 which supports the receiver under thehair,-as--illustrated in Figure 1.

An important feature'of-my hearing aid unit reside in providingaremovable or replaceable decorative earring plate B'or is which permitsth wearer to change thestyle of'the plateB or IQ whenever desired.

The plates Band is are adapted to be held-at thebottom-by ashort lug 24which hooks into the loop 25 while-the-upperportion of the plate-is heldby the springfingersEfi which engage around the tube i l.Thus-thedecorativeplateB orl9 is removably held closely adjacent theouter lower end of theear member $0 or! 2, andmay be readily replaced bythe wearer-of the hearing aid unit at any time Ihi s removabledecorative plate for my hearing aid unit is important as th plate actsto conceal the ear member of the hearing aid when the same is in theear, and it also provides a means for covering the clamp member II and20. Anyone, particularly a lady, is rather self-conscious about wearinga hearing aid, therefore it will be apparent that the decorative platesB or 19 provide a very essential part of my hearing aid unit.Furthermore, the fact that the decorative plates B and I9 may be changedat will by the wearer enhances the value of my hearing aid unit. It willalso be apparent that an earring with a removable decorative plate B or!9 may be worn on the opposite ear to that supporting the hearing aid.

I claim:

1. An ear member for a hearing aid unit comprising a tubular soundtransmitting member adapted to project into the ear of the wearer,substantially rigid means adapted to extend outwardly and downwardlyfrom said tubular member over the front of the lobe of the ear of thewearer, and means including movable means connected to said rigid meansand adapted to extend behind the lobe of the ear of the wearer to clampthe lobe of the ear of the wearer to said rigid means.

2. A hearing aid unit comprising an ear member adapted to project intothe ear of the wearer, a sound passageway extending through said earmember, substantially rigid means adapted to extend outwardly anddownwardly from said ear member over the front of the lobe of the ear ofthe wearer, and means including movable means connected to said rigidmeans and adapted to extend behind the lobe of the ear of the wearer toclamp the lobe of the ear of the wearer to said rigid means.

3. A hearing aid unit comprising an ear member adapted to project intothe ear of the wearer, said ear member including an integral portionadapted to extend outwardly and downwardly over the front of the lobe ofthe ear of the wearer, a sound passageway extending through said earmember, and means including movable means connected to said integralportion and adapted to extend behind the lobe of the ear of the wearerto clamp the lobe of the ear of the wearer to said integral portion.

4. A hearing aid unit comprising an ear member adapted to project intothe ear of the wearer, a sound passageway extending through said earmember, a flexible tube having one of its ends connected to said soundpassageway, a support for a receiver connected to the other end of saidflexible tube, substantially rigid means adapted to extend outwardly anddownwardly from said ear member over the front of the lobe of the ear ofthe wearer, and means including movable means connected to said rigidmeans and adapted to extend behind the lobe of the ear of the wearer toclamp the lobe of the ear of the wearer to said rigid means.

CHARLES H. STARKEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 439,099 Blodgett Oct. 28, 1890466,725 Miltimore June 5, 1892 857,105 Patten June 18, 1907 1,581,700Summer Apr. 20, 1926 1,587,643 Harman June 8, 1926 1,755,775 Dunn Apr.22, 1930 1,820,107 Agee Aug. 25, 1931 2,012,877 Iwasa Aug. 27, 19352,151,706 Lieber Mar. 28, 1939 2,281,227 Brady Apr. 28, 1942 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 24,202 Great Britain Oct. 20, 1897 125,804Germany Nov. 29, 1901 OTHER REFERENCES Modern Plastics Magazine, June1946, vol. 23, pages 120, 121, 122.

